Review Of Marco Pierre White Steakhouse And Grill, Sheffield

The majority of Marco Pierre Whites restaurants I have visited tend to be either on the ground floor or top floor of hotels in a city centre.

The new Steakhouse Bar and Grill in Sheffield isn't actually in the city centre - you have to travel a few mikes south to the Double Tree by Hilton at Sheffield Park. The restaurant only opened a few months ago and feels fresh and new.

You would expect that most of the restaurant trade would come from guests staying at the hotel, I know I certainly did. During our visit I was happy to observe at least half of our fellow diners making a special trip to the new Marco's. Is it worth discovering though?

First impressions are good - it looks like you have arrived at a classy place: white tablecloths and fine cutlery give it an edge - though I couldn't make out it was from Sheffield!

The staff seem eager to please and what I liked was that water for the table was brought straight away - always a good sign of what is to come. I liked too how they repeated back to you your order - though my partner's green salad still arrived with onion when none was requested. It was soon rectified though.

The menu as you might expect is meat based though they do have 3 fish and seafood options for mains.

In France you never seem to get Camembert baked, I've never come across it, but in Britain we seem to have gone for Baked Camembert. Here the Baked Camembert Fondue needs some bread to soak up the runny cheese. Thankfully the cheese comes with moreish warm baked sourdough. A good Camembert, creamy but lacked the authentic earthy taste you get with a Normandy Camembert. Perhaps it is the shape of things to come if it is to be a No Deal Brexit!

We both went for the Grilled 35 Day Aged Sirloin 10oz steak. Mine with Pommes Frites, my partner with Triple Cooked Chips. The steak was cooked to our preference, mine served with classic peppercorn and brandy sauce. Everything was perfect - the quality of food matched the friendly attentive service. It could not have ticked any more boxes, one of the best steaks I have eaten.

The dessert menu has 8 options. My warm treacle tart with clotted cream was not too sweet, served in a crisp pastry it did not disappoint. My partner seemed less impressed with the baked vanilla cheesecake served with fresh blueberry sauce: the base could have been a tad harder, though that is a personal preference.

As a cheese lover I had to see if the Alex James Blue Monday cheese was any good. If you don't know James was the bass player in Blur but now runs a Cotswold farm. A salty Stilton with more bite than Sheffield Wednesdays attack, it did not disappoint. More Happy Mondays than Blue Monday. The Drunken Fruitcake it comes served with might be a little too moist for some but it does compliment the cheese.

Definitely worth the visit - we did a 100 mile round trip (Yorkshire might be God's own county but it is also England's biggest) and would return again.

Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar and Grill, Double Tree by Hilton Sheffield Park,
Chesterfield Road South, Sheffield S8 8BW
Telephone 0114 282 8231
www.mpwrestaurants.com